Fuel economy

[37don]

I am running 2 new english 97's on a vintage Wiend regular manifold. Carbs have 43 mains and 69 power valves. The plugs are a nice light tan and are champion lawnmower plugs. Engine has 30000 mi on rebuild.

[34PKUP]

Originally Posted by 37don

I am running 2 new english 97's on a vintage Wiend regular manifold. Carbs have 43 mains and 69 power valves. The plugs are a nice light tan and are champion lawnmower plugs. Engine has 30000 mi on rebuild.

Sooo??

[Walts50]

I have 3.3 rear end stock OD trans, 276ci Flatty with Holly 390. I can get 18/19 mpg mix of highway/light in town traffic. I know the stock engine got best mpg at 30 mph. The drag on a 50 ford is .62 (about double my 2009 Hyundai modern 4 cyl of similar weight and probably similar hp). The drag goes up exponentially with speed so cruising at 65 on the highway won't help like a modern car.

[Drbrown]

Agree .... these flatties can be good on gas if well tuned. Have a 59AB in 47 coupe that gets 20 mpg on open road at average of 60 mph with overdrive .... single 2 barrel stock except electronic ignition.

[bchrismer]

When I am behaving myself and keeping between 55 and 60, my stock motored '40 stake gets around 16 or so. The authorities frown upon that speed going through town, however.

I'm running 3.78's, and gained a little mechanical advantage by running 31.7" tires.

[tubman]

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I guess I'm in the minority here. Last time I checked, I was getting about 14 mpg with my stock '51 club coupe. That may be because of the type of driving I do; mainly short trips with lots of "stop-n-go" (I have four stop signs before I even get out of resort proper). My shop is another two miles, I have to stop at the intersection it's on and again at the security gate. It's another 3 miles to town with it's intersections and short streets, so I guess it's not to unreasonable. IIRC, that's about what I got with the '51 I had in high school back in '58. I drove that one a little harder, though.

[bchrismer]

Tubman, I was referring to my highway mileage. Around town is considerably less, as I tend to drive to the exhaust note.

[Ross F-1]

It's a good day in an F-1 when you break 15 mpg. If you think a shoebox is bad aerodynamically, the trucks are like pushing a barn door thru the air, especially if not lowered and with west coast mirrors. But I managed to record 16+ on a trip going from 5300' up to 8000', with lots of up and downhill sections in between, averaging about 55 mph. My air/fuel meter was showing mid-13's by the time I got to the highest country, no better without going downhill. Since then I have made some changes to the Rochester and am hopeful I can improve on that. I'm running a 3.50 9" axle.